


Wrapped Up

by Grid_Gypsy



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Mush, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 22:47:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6258805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grid_Gypsy/pseuds/Grid_Gypsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Henry receives the phone call that Adam is gone? A tiny bit of angst, quite a few feelings, and getting caught making out by your partner's grown son.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wrapped Up

**Author's Note:**

> Falling after my Forever Tropes Ficathon entry, Locked In, this started life as the epilogue to that story but didn't quite fit. I polished it a bit and am posting it as a (more or less) stand alone, though it also works well with Unexpected at the least and ultimately Unexpected and Locked In if you so wish. Truthfully, I'm thinking that I need to start tagging for series. Thoughts?

Jo was in the kitchen pouring coffee for the two of them when the phone rang. Several minutes after slipping into the living room to answer it, Henry's yell echoed throughout the apartment.

"Bloody Hell!"

"Henry?" Jo called. She didn't think she'd ever heard him curse before, and as a first it was definitely a very British one. She was guessing that the combination meant serious. Putting her coffee cup down, she rushed into the living room hoping it wasn't bad news about Abe.

Henry was sitting on the edge of the wingback chair next to the telephone, elbows braced on his knees and head in his hands.

Lengthening her stride, she went to him and knelt down, placing a hand on his knee. "Hey, Henry, what is it?"

He didn't even bother to lift his head as he spoke. "That was the hospital, Adam is gone."

"Well you knew it would happen eventually, not that I don't wish we had a little more time-"

"No, Jo," Henry said, jerking his head up to stare at her with a tortured look in his eyes. "Not only is he gone, but he appears to have had help. His ventilator had been turned off. Initially, they thought someone might have taken him for testing, that he had been switched from the ventilator in his room to a portable unit. However, they have checked the entire hospital, twice. He is nowhere to be found.”

"What about the cameras?"

"Glitches in the system off and on for the last week they said, and the camera in his wing stopped working yesterday so they've called out for repair. They did check the entrance cameras, as well as those in other hallways. They still found nothing, not that I would expect anything different." Henry shot to his feet, almost knocking Jo back on her heels, and stalked past her. "I have to go. If I've endangered you in any way-"

Oh-kay, hold it right there, buster!" Jo said in her best 'or I'll shoot' voice.

Henry stopped but didn't turn around.

Standing, Jo did some stalking of her own until she was looking him in the eye. "Henry, running isn't going to do anything but make it obvious to Adam that you’re trying to draw him off. Not only is it a bad move tactics wise, but you know as well as I do that we're stronger together than apart. Even if I am just a puny mortal with a gun."

Watching fear, shock, amusement and then regret cross Henry's face by turns, Jo decided that he was actually pretty easy to read once you knew his secret. And, at least he was talking to her now instead of tossing the house looking for his passports. Abe had mentioned that he'd hidden them, and Jo knew just who to call if Henry found someone to forge another. Maybe a couple of days in a cell being brought up on criminal possession charges, before they were conveniently buried, would give her time to talk some sense into him.

"Jo, you're not some, puny mortal, as you so colorfully phrased it. You're one of the strongest people I've ever known, but if something were to happen to you because of me--"

"Then don't run, stay, and we'll face it together. If you run, you'll have lost me just as effectively as if something did happen, because if you think that after Sean, and then you..." Jo paused, promising herself that she wouldn't let the tears come. Instead, she got angry. "If you think that I could go on to live any kind of normal life then you're just fooling yourself. I don't have centuries to get over it, just the decades left in my life," she snapped.

Henry was actually the first to tear up. _Let's hear it for good cop face,_ Jo thought, before taking a step back and holding a hand up between them as he reached for her. "No, don't touch me, not yet, not until I have your word you’ll stay. If you're leaving, tell me now, because I need to be at work," she added while pointedly looking at her watch.

It was in that moment that Jo finally had to face the fact that she had fallen for this weird, insane... _immortal_. Hard.

 _When the hell did that happen?_ she asked herself, but deep down, she already knew the answer.

It had started when he'd set her on fire to save her from aconite poisoning, and then murmured in her ear that he was the least judgmental person she'd ever meet. _Uh huh, right. As long as you weren't eating a gyro, or drinking cheap whiskey_. And by the time he'd described the best way to see Paris? She was far enough down that slippery slope to turn down a weekend in the city of lights with someone else.

She had spent the last four plus months trying to convince herself that this was a 'live in the moment' type of thing. Because, they came from two really different worlds so surely they'd both have to move on once it became apparent, right?   _Yep, worked out real well, didn't it, Martinez? Did you forget basic high school science; Isaac Newton, Laws of Attraction, all that jazz?_

Yeah, maybe when they had first started dating it had something to do with the unconscious knowledge that he would never die and leave her like Sean, or that unbelievably sexy half grin combined with the accent, or... _Oh no, Martinez, not the time_. But when it came right down to it, he held her heart, every screwed up piece of it. And damn him if he thought that he was going to run off without leaving yet another giant hole in her chest.

Staring at him while mulling over the realization, she watched it happen. The Henry that jumped in front of speeding cars and off buildings to stop the bad guys came to the surface. He stood straighter, squared his jaw, got that determined gleam in his eye, and she knew. He would stay and fight for what he wanted, and that what she felt meant more to him than some misplaced notion that he was keeping her safe by leaving.

"On my honor Jo, unless you ask me to, I won't leave."

She thought he just might mean for longer than this particular instance. Either way though, it warmed that small place in her heart that had already been trying to frost over again the minute he had mentioned going.

"Well I'm not asking you to. In fact, I just might want you to stick around for a long time. Do you think you can handle that?" she asked, subconsciously tilting her chin up in challenge.

This time when he reached for her, she met him halfway.

Cupping Jo's face in his hands, Henry replied, "Oh my sweet Jo, I most certainly can."

Claiming her lips, he kissed her slowly and thoroughly, fingers restless along her hairline and over the sensitive edges of her ears. When he brushed across her earlobes Jo caught her breath, and with it came the scent of his freshly pressed linen shirt along with something that reminded her vaguely of of the ocean.

Her own hands had wandered up his arms to the edges of his waistcoat and she slid them under it's silk lining. Curling her fingers slightly within the material's confines, she scraped her nails along both collar bones. The movement unexpectedly elicited a low growl from deep in Henry's throat, and the sound caused her to gasp against his lips.

Just as Jo turned her hands to grab the shoulders of his waistcoat and pull him closer, the sound of a third person clearing their throat caused her to still.

"Uh-hm, should I leave and come back in again? I figured you two would be at the precinct by now. And why is my key not working? I had to dig up the one from our hiding spot."

Breaking breathlessly apart at the sound of Abe's voice, Henry touched his forehead briefly to Jo’s in silent promise. After tucking her into his side, he turned them both to greet his son.

"Welcome back Abraham. Jo and I had just been discussing something with possibly serious repercussions. As for the key, I'll explain it later," Henry replied.

Henry's eyes said serious, but Jo could see a ghost of an embarrassed grin played across his lips.

Closing her eyes, Jo took a deep breath to try and restart her brain, which staring at Henry’s mouth certainly wasn't going to help. After opening them again, she managed to wave at Abe in greeting while reminding herself that he was more than just her Henry’s roommate. _Being caught making out by your partner’s grown son is certainly enough to cool things down, right? C'mon, breathe Martinez._

"Well if that's how you two fight, remind me not to be around when you make up," Abe said with a teasing grin before leaning down to set his suitcase on the floor.

"We weren't fighting," Henry insisted.

“Nope, no fighting, Henry just needed some convincing to see things in a different light," Jo added, not bothering to hide her own smile. "Good to see you, Abe."

"Ah, well thanks, you too, and I think I might already know what all that was about," Abe said as he motioned between the two of them with a knowing look. His face became serious though as he reached into the pocket of his jacket and removed an envelope, which he then handed to his father. "Henry, this was taped to the front door. It's addressed to you, and I'm pretty sure I recognized the handwriting."

Henry's eyes widened and he glanced at Jo before sliding his arm from around her shoulders and taking the envelope. It was standard business stock and had only his first name written across the front.

"Adam," Henry huffed out before running a finger underneath the envelope's seal and reaching inside to slide out a single sheet of paper. Unfolding it, he read the half a dozen or so lines with brow furrowed before handing it to Jo.

As he moved to stand beside her, Abe reached inside his jacket and pulled a pair of reading glasses from the breast pocket of his shirt. When he had settled them onto his face, Jo shifted the letter slightly closer to him so that they could read it at the same time.

The script was neat and precise, although not as beautiful as Henry's own hand, and definitely a far cry from what typically passed as writing in Jo's line of work. She could barely decipher some of the other detectives' handwritten notes sometimes.

_**Henry,** _

_**Don't worry, you won't be hearing from me anytime in the near future. Which of course begs the thought, exactly what is the near future to people like you and I? Regardless, I've found other avenues to pursue and will leave you to your attempt at a normal life. You and your detective are safe, and congratulations on her acceptance. To find two such strong women in your short lifetime is actually rather remarkable. Enjoy her while you can.** _

_**If you change your mind and decide to embrace your condition, there is more out there** _  
_**than either of us have realized.** _

_**Oh, and by the way, very well played.** _

_**Adam**_  
  
"If he's telling the truth, that's good right?" Abe asked. "I mean, he's still out there, but in a way, you've won."

Jo, who had been idly running her thumb over the page while reading, looked up from it suddenly. "Hey Henry, I could be wrong, but this feels like the same paper that other note was typed on. At least, I'd put money on the odds."

Abe looked at Jo and then Henry. "What other note?"

Taking the letter from Jo, Henry held it up to the sunlight streaming through the living room windows and squinted at it while worrying one corner between his fingers. Then he turned on his heel and headed for the stairs without a word, letter in hand.

Spinning to follow Henry's movements, Abe asked again, "What note? What'd I miss?"

As Henry took the stairs down, two at a time, Jo and Abe followed at a more sedate pace. On the way, she explained about the typed letter, clothing and other articles that had been sealed in a waterproof bag and left in the river for Henry to find.

When they reached the middle of the shop, Abe paused to look at Jo with eyebrows raised. "You mean no more naked Henry runs in the middle of the night? Hallelujah! Now why didn't I think of that?"

Jo actually had to cover her mouth to stop the laugh that was trying to escape. It was impossible to completely control though, so she just hugged Abe instead. He returned it and patted her on the back while chuckling.

"Well one of us might still need to go get him, but at least it won't be from lockup anymore," she said when she could speak again.

It was then that they heard Henry call up from the direction of the trap door.

Downstairs, he had both pieces of paper on his work table, each missing strips from the bottom, and was bent over one of the microscopes. When Jo reached him, she placed her hands on his hips and tiptoed to peer over his shoulder. His back was warm in the coolness of the basement laboratory and she shifted closer, hugging him for a moment before moving away to circle the table and stand opposite him.

Abe picked up the note he hadn't seen yet and was studying it when Henry braced his hands on the table to look up at Jo.

"Excellent observation, Jo. Both pages turned out to be exactly the same weight and thickness, so of course I put samples through the microscope. The fiber composition appears to be the same, though I’d have to do some chemical testing to be one hundred percent certain. However, both pages also have very similar irregularities along the cut edges. The manufacturing facility needed to change their cutting blade on the day this particular paper went through. I'd say we have a match," he said, straightening.

"So, the person that left you the death preparedness kit also helped Adam escape from the hospital?" Jo asked, glancing over at the sheet of paper that Abe was holding and then looking back at Henry.

Henry opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. Cocking an eyebrow at Jo, he gave her a look that caused something to curl warmly deep inside her. Still smirking at her, he said, "Even with the few clues we have to go on? I'd say it's an excellent supposition."

Tossing the first note back on the table, Abe added, "Sounds like some sort of weird, immortal den mother."

Jo was about to reply, still grinning at Henry, when her phone rang. Pulling it from her back pocket, she glanced at the screen before hitting the button and answering with, "Hey, Mike.” As she walked closer to the stairs, she added, “yeah, I'm picking up Henry now. Text me the address and we'll meet you." Hanging up, she half turned toward the two men watching her. "Whoever it was will have to wait, we've got a body on the ground. You coming, Henry?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Henry said with a grin and a wink.

Again, Jo got the feeling he was talking about more than just the case, but she had to let it go for the moment. They had work to do.

 


End file.
